Doing Time for Teenage Sex Behavior

Matthew Limon has been released from jail this past year, after serving 5 of a 17 year conviction in prison. His crime? When he was 18, he had consensual oral sex with someone a month shy of 15 years old. However, it took the Kansas Supreme Court to overturn his conviction for the crime of "aggravated criminal sodomy." Matthew's partner was male. However, if she were female, the more lenient "Romeo and Juliet" statues would have eased his sentence to 15 months in Kansas prison.

Living in Georgia, however, he might not be so lucky for engaging in under-age heterosexual sex, as Marcus Dixon found out in 2003. This popular high school senior and football player with a 3.9 GPA was sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security prison without the possibility of parole for having what the jury ruled was consensual sex with a 15 year old girl. While he was acquitted of the rape and assault charges, he was found guilty of aggravated child molestation. Molesting children is one of the so-called "Seven Deadly Sins" in Georgia. He too, needed the state Supreme Court to release him one year later. Some believe it was racially motivated, as Dixon is black and his girlfriend is white.

Also in Georgia, a 17 year old boy and 15 year old girl videotaped themselves in a sexual encounter. Unfortunately for the pair, the girl's parents found it and the case was presented to a grand jury for possible charges of child pornography, statutory rape, and aggravated child molestation. Fortunately, this time, the case was heard in urban Atlanta, and the jury did not recommend prosecution. A more rural jury, however, might have convicted the boy, according to former District Attorney J. Tom Morgan of DeKalb County, Georgia.

Statutory Rape: A Guide to State Laws and Reporting Requirements, a 2004 study produced by the Lewin Group for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services says that consensual sex between teenagers assumes all sexual activity under a certain age are coercive, even if participation of both parties is voluntary. While clearly the law is designed to protect juveniles from adult predators, teens are also getting jail time.

The laws originated, according to February 2006's Contemporary Sexuality, from the thirteenth century. A man "owned" his wife and daughter, there were his chattel, and if someone trespassed on his property, he could prosecute for the theft.

Even today, parents are the most likely people to report cases of statuary rape.

In New Hampshire and Massachusetts, a child under 16 years of age is unable to consent to sexual intercourse with anyone other than his or her spouse. In New Hampshire, the age of the victim determines whether sexual penetration or sexual contact alone is proscecutable. Sexual penetration is defined as: sexual intercourse; cunnilingus; fellatio; anal intercourse; any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the actor's body or any object manipulated by the defendant into genital or anal openings of the victim's body; or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the victim's body into genital or anal openings of the defendant’s body. Emission is not required as an element of any form of sexual penetration. Sexual contact is defined as: the intentional touching whether directly, through clothing, or otherwise, of the victim's or defendant’s sexual or intimate parts, including breasts and buttocks. Sexual contact includes only that aforementioned conduct which can be reasonably construed as being for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification.

In Connecticut, A child under 16 years of age is unable to consent to sexual intercourse when the other person is more than 2 years older than him or her. However, sexual contact with someone less than 15 years of age is illegal regardless of the age of the defendant.

In Maine, there are more detailed exceptions: A child who is less than 16 years of age cannot consent to sexual acts,1 with the following exceptions:
· Engaging in a voluntary sexual act with a victim who is at least 14 years of age and less than 16 years of age is not illegal if the defendant is less than 5 years older than the victim.
· Voluntary sexual contact with a victim who is at least 14 years of age and less than 16 years of age is not illegal if the defendant is less than 10 years older than the victim.
· Voluntary sexual contact with a victim under 14 years of age is not considered to be
unlawful sexual contact if the defendant is less than 3 years older than the victim.
· Voluntary sexual touching with a victim under 14 years of age is exempted from prosecution if the defendant is less than 5 years older than the victim.

It is illegal in Maine to engage in a sexual act with someone less than 14 years of age regardless of the age of the defendant.

In Rhode Island, children under 16 years of age are unable to consent to sexual penetration with someone 18 years of age or older. Children under 14 years of age are unable to consent to sexual acts regardless of the age of the defendant.

According to the Vermont Statutes, children under the age of 16 are unable to consent to sexual acts unless the defendant is their spouse. However, in 2000 the Vermont State Supreme Court ruled that this law is only applicable in cases where the defendant is at least 16 years of age.

While in all states, counselors/psychologists are mandated to report, who they report the crime to varies. You can download the entire report by clicking on the link above.

While no one condones sexual exploitation of children at the hands of adult perpetrators, careful consideration must be given to how the laws should be written and enforced. More than 40 percent of 15-17 year olds have oral sex. Should we be defending a law that can potentially prosecute the 16 year olds having sex with 15 year olds?

And lets look again at a larger societal issue: In the 'Land of the Free' the USA incarcerates more people per 100,000 residents than any other nation on earth: 2.1 million in 2003 (1). That figure has been continuously rising for the last 31 years, despite a falling crime rate (2). Let's look at the incarceration rates of the USA and other countries:

USA 714 per 100,000 residents each year
Russia 548 (second highest in the world)
England/Wales 141 "
Canada 116
France 95
Japan 58

While half a million of these 2.1 million are imprisoned for drug related crimes, do we need to add sexually active teenagers to this number?

References:

(1) Blum, W. (2005). Rogue State. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press.
(2) Op Cit.